How Bill Clinton Beat Donald Trump at His Own Game

As inimitably strange as last week was, this week isn’t un-strange either. Democrats, who usually stress how much progress still needs to be made in the United States, in contrast to more boosterish Republican rhetoric, have found themselves talking about how America is “already great.” The party that historically sought to restrain Cold War passions is now warning, in the words of Madeleine Albright, “I know what happens when you give the Russians a green light.” And the party unity that was generated in opposition to George W. Bush looks far more fragile in opposition to Donald Trump, with dozens of Bernie Sanders delegates walking out of the convention hall and vowing to leave their party.

There have been many celebrities, even more than usual. Democrats do well on this front, of course, usually beating the opposition. Willie Robertson cannot quite compete with Alicia Keys. But you can go overboard. I’m not sure we needed Lena Dunham, America Ferrera, Debra Messing, and Meryl Streep. And when Elizabeth Banks unveiled a short Hillary-boosting video that presented an a cappella cover of the Rachel Platten hit “Fight Song,” every Hollywood face seemed to make an appearance. You could not produce a much more solid reminder of how strongly aligned our pop-culture machinery is with our political machinery, and it felt downright oppressive. We delineate America’s tastes, values, and fashions—and, damn it, the politics, too. It’s a package deal. No wonder many Evangelicals unplug. And no wonder blue-state Americans get caught off-guard when red-state Americans, normally unseen, show up in force at the polls.

“Bill reminded us that Hillary Clinton has been involved in politics
for a very long time, long before she became wealthy or powerful.”

Nevertheless, overall, Tuesday night went fine. An appearance by the group Mothers of the Movement, made up of African-Americans who have lost children to racially charged violence, came across as conciliatory and included a line of praise for law-enforcement officers. This was about as good a result as Hillary Clinton could have hoped for, given the riskiness of the moment. Eric Holder and Howard Dean were unremarkable but non-harmful. No one threatened to upstage the main attraction of the evening.

That attraction, of course, was Bill Clinton, who did his job well. He could not be an attack dog, because the result would have been counterattacks from Trump on Twitter and a Bill-and-Donald fight that would have distracted everyone. He had to offer something non-attackable. So he told stories about his wife, some of them probably true. He reminded us that Hillary Clinton has been involved in politics and policy for a very long time, long before she became wealthy or powerful, and this reminded everyone that her commitment to public service has been serious and sincere.

There were some dubious moments. There was the invitation to terrorism-hating Muslim Americans to “stay here and help us win”—as if their true home were elsewhere and they were trying on the United States for size. There was the assertion that Hillary could be dropped into “any trouble spot, pick one, come back in a month and somehow, some way, she will have made it better”—a line that makes the mind go instantly to the world’s many trouble spots, including ones that Hillary had a hand in creating. Not surprisingly, this led to a flurry of “Benghazi” nominations on conservative Twitter.

But Bill is gifted at working a crowd, and he’s gotten better with age, in many respects, perhaps because he’s had so much practice giving speeches. He made no serious false moves, and he kept his wife as the star of the show.

The night ended with a montage on-screen of presidents, all male, and then the sound of shattering glass and the appearance of Hillary Clinton, who spoke to the convention and told young girls watching that “I may become the first woman president, but one of you is next.” The camera then panned back to reveal a room full of campaign supporters of various ages, colors, and shapes. None of it was very subtle, but, then again, her opponent is Donald Trump. It’s not a subtle election.